Teacher May Be Fired For Not Reporting Chair Throwing Incident

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A teacher at New Bedford High School who had a chair thrown at her by a student could lose her job over the attack.

Administrators have sent a letter to teacher Joanne Maura saying she faces disciplinary action, including possible “termination,” for failing to report the assault last month prompted when she confiscated the student’s cellphone.

In a cell phone video of the incident that was posted to YouTube, a male student is seen yelling at Maura after she refuses to return a phone she took away from him during class. The boy becomes very irate and begins cursing at her. Towards the end of the 1-minute and 13-second video, he throws a chair at Maura, but it does not hit her.

Watch student throw chair at teacher below:

School administrators say they didn’t find out about the attack until a week later when the video, shot by another student, showed up on YouTube. A hearing is scheduled for next week.

In a letter hand-delivered to Maura, Headmaster Andrew Kulak said that “you failed to perform your responsibilities as a teacher at New Bedford High School and properly inform administration of the nature, details and severity of the incident, or provide a conduct referral or report for the incident in a timely fashion.”

Moura tells WCVB-TV that the attack was reported immediately to the school resource officer and a housemaster.

The 18-year-old student has been suspended and faces criminal charges.